It seems like only yesterday I was reporting on the winner of the prestigious Sobey Art Award for 2017, and here I am already announcing the 2018 finalists. Tempus fugit!
Highlighting excellence in Canadian contemporary art, the $240,000 award is one of the world's most prestigious art prizes. It is presented annually to a visual artist age 40 and under who has exhibited in a public or commercial gallery within 18 months of being nominated. This is a fabulous leg up for any young creator, offering not only financial support but also immeasurable opportunity to engage in diverse artistic and curatorial practices in the contemporary art milieu. The finalists have been selected from a long list of 25 nominees by an international jury chaired by Josée Drouin-Brisebois, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Canada, who had this to say of this year's choice: "I am very proud of the shortlisted artists selected and inspired by the criticality and potent interactivity of their work. Many of this year’s artists use performance and public space, and it will be an interesting challenge to reflect these aspects of their practice in the exhibition this fall.”
As is the case each year, the five finalists come from all corners of our vast country, and many are of Native heritage: From the Atlantic region: Jordan Bennett; from Ontario: Kapwani Kiwanga; From the Prairies and the North: Joi T. Arcand; from the West Coast and the Yukon: Jeneen Frei Njootli; and representing Quebec: Jon Rafman.
Their work will be shown at the National Gallery between October 3, 2018 and February 10, 2019.
In addition to the $100,000 Sobey Art Award grand prize, $25,000 will be awarded to the other four finalists, and $2,000 to each of the remaining 20 artists on the longlist.
For more information about the 2018 nominees and jurors go to: gallery.ca/sobey or follow on: @PrixSobeyAward.